EnviroNews
For Immediate Release:
Monday, March 7, 2008
Media Contact:
Brenda Flores-Dollar, TxDOT, 512 486 5904
bfdolla@dot.state.tx.us
Hip-Hop Star and Top American Designer Join Don’t Mess with Texas Celebrity Roster
“Rock the Bag” tour offers solution to littering problem, as new research reveals littering habits
(AUSTIN, Texas)—A new study by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reveals nearly all Texans know they shouldn’t mess with Texas, but more than half are doing it anyway. Meanwhile, an entirely new statistic shows most litterers learned the bad behavior from their parents.
Rapper Chamillionaire and designer Todd Oldham are volunteering to help stop it.
The latest Litter Attitudes and Behaviors study, which polled Texans about their littering behavior, revealed that 52 percent of people reported littering within the past year. A more encouraging piece of the research showed that 67 percent of Texans would use a litterbag in their vehicle.
“Today’s worst offenders are under age 25, so it's key to make litter prevention as appealing as possible,” said Doris Howdeshell, Travel Information Division Director for TxDOT.
For Don’t Mess with Texas, the well-known litter prevention campaign managed by TxDOT, the answer is “Rock the Bag,” a Don’t Mess with Texas campaign that puts four new limited-edition litterbags front and center in an outreach campaign beginning March 8.
Making Bags All the Rage
Following the Don't Mess with Texas tradition of tapping into the state’s pool of celebrity talent, the campaign recruited noted fashion and home dècor designer Todd Oldham, who grew up in Corpus Christi and lived in Dallas, to donate a design for one of the new limited-edition litterbags. Oldham, host of Bravo’s “Top Design,” was recently tapped by Old Navy to oversee creative direction of its merchandise geared to shoppers in their 20s.
“I enjoyed designing this bag and hope it inspires you to contribute to a litter-free Texas,” said Oldham.
Texans can get the litterbags two ways: by ordering them online at www.DontMessWithTexas.org, or by visiting one of the 28 Rock the Bag outreach events in 16 cities over the next six months. An outreach schedule is on the Web site.
Bag designs have been made to appeal especially to Texans ages 16 to 24, known as “Generation Litterer” or “Gen L.” The recent Litter Attitudes and Behaviors study confirms Texas’ most prevalent litterers are Gen L — a finding that has been consistent for the past decade.
Chamillionaire, a Grammy Award-winning rapper, is donating his time and musical talent to the campaign by appearing, for the first time, in a Don’t Mess with Texas TV spot. He’s a native Texan (from Houston), and the first Rock the Bag outreach event will coincide with one of his concerts.
“The benefits of swaying the Gen L group are enormous — primarily reducing the amount of litter that falls on our roadsides every year,” said Howdeshell. “We estimate that if every person who litters in Texas would start using a litterbag and put just six pieces of trash in it every month, it’s possible we'd have a litter-free state, and that’s our vision.”
According to the last “Visible Litter Study” (NuStats), roadside trash dropped by 33 percent between 2001 and 2005. Annual litter accumulation along TxDOT rights-of-way dropped from more than 1 billion pieces to 827 million. The next study is expected to be conducted in 2010.
The Rock the Bag outreach schedule focuses on places where Gen L is most likely to be in the spring and summer — outdoor festivals, malls, campuses, theme parks and concerts. Litterbags will be distributed to attendees as they leave events to ensure a bag lands in their vehicle. As attendees approach the event, the Don’t Mess with Texas exhibit will feature computer kiosks, and staffers will invite people to add Don’t Mess with Texas onto their Facebook and MySpace pages.
Like Mother Like Daughter, Like Father Like Son?
For the first time ever, research for Don’t Mess with Texas has uncovered a connection suggesting that littering is a bad behavior people are modeling from their parents. According to the new Litter Attitudes and Behaviors Study, 67 percent of admitted litterers saw their parents litter. TxDOT hopes its new “Litter Force” campaign launched last fall for elementary-school students will help raise the first generation of Texans who are not as apt to litter, and who might bring home positive litter prevention messages to their households.
The Attitudes and Behaviors Study (Baselice & Associates) is a statewide quantitative telephone survey of 1,253 Texans about their littering behavior and perceptions. Other key findings include:
- 72 percent of smokers admit to recent littering behavior
- 43 percent admit to recent littering behavior (last three months), with 52 percent within the last year
- For those who admit to littering, they are most likely to report littering small pieces of paper, such as receipts, lottery tickets and gum wrappers. Cans and bottles for beer and soda are perceived as the most serious litter problem. (In reality, the Visible Litter Study shows that tobacco and food litter are the two most prevalent types of litter on Texas roadsides, at 33 percent and 29 percent respectively.)
- 96 percent of Texans have heard of Don’t Mess with Texas
- 68 percent know the correct meaning of the slogan (it means don’t litter)
Southwest Airlines, La Quinta Inns & Suites, Simon Malls, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Sweet Leaf Tea and Valero are this year’s sponsors of the Rock the Bag outreach tour.
About Don’t Mess with Texas
Don’t Mess with Texas has been educating Texans about litter prevention since 1986. TxDOT’s litter prevention program includes Adopt-a-Highway and a grassroots partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful. Don’t Mess with Texas activities also include a spring “Trash-Off,” community outreach, a scholarship and a corporate partner program. For more information, visit www.DontMessWithTexas.org. TxDOT’s goals are to reduce congestion, enhance safety, expand economic opportunity, improve air quality and increase the value of transportation assets. For more information, visit www.txdot.gov.